Financial support for authors

The open-access publication model of Copernicus Publications requires the author to cover the article processing charges (APCs) based on the number of published pages. These service charges include all costs of the review process, typesetting, English language copy-editing, web publication, and long-term archiving. However, the following information provides the authors with the possibilities of APC waivers or reductions.

Article processing charge waivers

All EGU open-access journals provide 10% of the previous year's page budget to be assigned to authors lacking support of funds. Before applying for a waiver, all authors are requested to explore funding options at their own university. Some research funders have established general APC funding schemes, like the Research Council UK. There, a block of funding has generally been allocated to each university to cover open-access publication costs associated with Research-Council-funded grants and research students. However, if the authors are not eligible for any financial support scheme, they are asked to contact Copernicus Publications Editorial Support (editorial@copernicus.org) after access review prior to publication of their paper in the discussion forum to apply for a partial or full waiver. Applications should state why the author (or any of the co-authors) cannot pay the charges. Applications by students or post-doctoral researchers also require a brief statement from their supervisor or group leader. Applications will be granted if supported by the handling editor and approved by the journal. In special cases, such as long review manuscripts, the authors may contact the chief editors prior to manuscript submission.

GMD has some funding available to support submissions from those with limited publication funds, especially lead authors from developing countries, and for submissions which are significantly longer than the average (i.e. papers that are typically greater than 60 discussion paper pages). Authors of such papers can contact the executive editors to request a full or partial waiver.

Financial support schemes

The following institutions have agreements with Copernicus Publications regarding the central settlement of article processing charges (APCs). The details of each agreement are specified below. Some journals have special financial support schemes for their authors.

First authors affiliated to institutes of the ETH Zurich

If the first author is affiliated to one of the institutes of the ETH Zurich, the article processing charges will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the ETH-Bibliothek. This arrangement is valid for any submission after 1 October 2014 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

Corresponding authors affiliated to the Freie Universität Berlin

The institutional agreement with the Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin) covers papers with article processing charges up to €2,000 (gross) if the first affiliation of the corresponding author is FU Berlin. The APCs will then be settled directly between Copernicus Publications and the university library of the FU Berlin. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), FU Berlin will not cover any of the costs. This arrangement is valid for submissions after 7 February 2018 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

The institutional agreement with the SUB (Niedersächsische Staat- und Universitätsbibliothek) covers papers with article processing charges (APCs) up to €2,000 (gross) if the corresponding author of the paper is affiliated to the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. The APCs will then be settled directly between Copernicus Publications and the SUB. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), SUB will cover only half of the costs. The arrangement is valid for submissions after 1 January 2016 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

First authors affiliated to research centres of the Helmholtz Association

If the first author is affiliated to one of the following research centres of the Helmholtz Association, the article processing charges will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the Helmholtz Centres. Contact your local library to learn more about the internal procedure at your centre:

The institutional agreement with the Leibniz Association's Open Access Publishing Fund covers papers with article processing charges (APCs) up to €2,000 (gross) if the corresponding author of the paper is affiliated to one of the 53 participating Leibniz institutions:

The APCs will then be settled directly between Copernicus Publications and Leibniz Association's Open Access Publishing Fund. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), Leibniz Association's Open Access Publishing Fund will not cover any of the costs. The arrangement is valid for submissions after 1 May 2018 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

Corresponding author affiliated to the Leibniz Universität Hannover

The institutional agreement with the TIB (Technische Informationsbibliothek) covers papers with article processing charges (APCs) up to €2,000 (gross) if the corresponding author of the paper is affiliated to the Leibniz Universität Hannover. The APCs will then be settled directly between Copernicus Publications and the TIB. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), TIB will not cover any of the costs. The arrangement is valid for submissions after 1 January 2016 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

Corresponding authors affiliated to research units of the Max Planck Society

If the corresponding author (first author until 31 December 2016) is affiliated to one of the research units of the Max Planck Society, the article processing charges will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the Max Planck Society.

Corresponding authors affiliated to the Stockholm University

If the corresponding author is affiliated to one of the institutes of the Stockholm University, the article processing charges will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the Stockholm University. This arrangement is valid for any submission after 24 January 2018 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

Corresponding author affiliated to the TU Darmstadt

The TU Darmstadt promotes publication of research articles in open-access journals with an open-access publishing fund for its members, which is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The institutional agreement with Technische Universität Darmstadt covers papers with article processing charges up to €2,000 (gross) if the corresponding author of the paper is affiliated to TU Darmstadt. The APCs are then settled directly between Copernicus Publications and the university library of the TU Darmstadt. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), the central open-access publishing fund of TU Darmstadt will not cover any of the costs. This arrangement is valid for submissions after 1 January 2017 (receipt of electronic manuscript files). For further information about open access at TU Darmstadt, please visit the library website https://www.ulb.tu-darmstadt.de/oa-fonds or contact oa-fonds@ulb.tu-darmstadt.de.

Corresponding authors affiliated to departments of the TU Delft

In 2018, the TU Delft Library will be providing a publication fund for articles published with Copernicus Publications. The fund is available to all corresponding authors affiliated with TU Delft on a first-come, first-served basis. Submitting a manuscript holds out the prospect to the corresponding author that his or her manuscript publication will be settled by the TU Delft prepayment. However, if no funds are available at the time of the publication, Copernicus Publications will charge the authors for the APCs. The TU Delft can always settle the pending amount and then advise Copernicus Publications not to invoice the authors.

Corresponding author affiliated to the TU Munich

The institutional agreement with the Technical University Munich (Technische Universität München, TUM) covers papers with article processing charges up to €2,000 (gross) if the corresponding author of the paper is affiliated to the TUM. The APCs will then be settled directly between Copernicus Publications and the university library of the TUM. If APCs exceed €2,000 (gross), TUM will not cover any of the costs. This arrangement is valid for submissions after 1 January 2015 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

First authors affiliated to institutes of the University of Bremen

If the first author is affiliated to one of the institutes of the University of Bremen, the article processing charges will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the SUUB (Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Bremen). This arrangement is valid for any submission after 1 April 2014 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).

First authors affiliated to the University of Potsdam

If the first author is affiliated to the University of Potsdam, the article processing charges for category 1 and 2 papers will be settled automatically between Copernicus Publications and the Potsdam University Library. The Potsdam University Library covers papers with article processing charges up to €2,000 (gross). Where the APCs exceed this amount, the remainder of the payment will be issued to the first author. This arrangement is valid for any submission after 1 July 2015 (receipt of electronic manuscript files).
Please note: If the author has not submitted an application for the University of Potsdam's open-access publication fund or if the application is not accepted, the author will receive an invoice from the faculty later on.

Other support schemes

In the following we list some examples for open access support schemes. However, the list is by non means complete.

Projects funded by the DFG

The German Research Foundation DFG supports publication charges with €750 per year. This support can also be accumulated over the 3-year period of funding. Please see DFG's FAQs on open access for further information.

Projects funded by the European Commission

Horizon 2020 is the EU Research and Innovation programme. All projects receiving Horizon 2020 funding will have the obligation to make sure any peer-reviewed journal article they publish is openly accessible, free of charge.

Projects funded by the FWF

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research. The FWF provides grants to cover the costs of peer-reviewed publications that result from projects supported by the FWF, up to a limit of 3 years after conclusion of the project. Leaders and collaborators of all FWF projects of any discipline are the target group of this support.

Other universities providing open access funds for their researchers

The following is a list of universities that are supported by the DFG Programme "Open Access Publizieren" and therefore provide funds for open-access publications. Please check whether your institution supports the costs for open-access publishing.